King Cake and A Giveaway!

King Cake is the preferred dessert in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. This round cinnamon roll cake is shaped into a ring, topped with an incredible lemon glaze and sprinkled with the colors of Mardi Gras, with purple representing justice, gold representing power, and green representing faith. A plastic baby is baked inside the King Cake, and the tradition is whoever receives the baby in their piece of cake must buy the next King Cake or throw the next party. No Mardi Gras party is complete without a delicious king cake!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Storey Publishing asking if I would like to highlight a recipe from a new cookbook and offer a giveaway on my blog. After I saw the name of the book, A World of Cake, I was hooked! I was so excited for the cookbook to arrive that I would rush home from work hoping that it would be at my door. When it arrived I sat down and drooled over all of the amazing recipes. This book is full of 150 drool worthy recipes, from Rum Cake, Black Forest Cake, Moon Cakes, to Funnel Cakes.

Author Krystina Castella takes the reader on a culinary journey around the world. Each recipe comes with a background on the history and region of the cake and variations on how to create your cake. The introductory chapter includes a calendar highlighting cake worthy holidays and celebrations for each month. It was neat to read about all the the different holidays that people celebrate and the types of cakes that are appropriate for the occasion. Lazy Bones Day, celebrated late May/early June in the Netherlands, was a holiday that made me smile. It is a children holiday in which neighborhood children wake at 4 am on a weekend morning to bang pots and pans, ring door bells, and yell. Anyone who does not wake up and join in the fun are called “lazy bones” for the rest of the year. Each chapter is broken into world regions where you can read each region’s contribution to global cake culture. There are even cake family trees that show how they evolved and relate to each other! I am so excited to try more recipes from this book. If the King Cake is any indication-I won’t be disappointed!

Here is your chance to win a copy of this amazing cookbook! Just follow the directions below for a chance to win! The cookbook will be sent directly from Storey Publishing, so it is limited to US residents only.

How to Enter:Leave a comment on this post answering the question: “What is your favorite type of cake?” Is it German chocolate cake, carrot cake, cheesecake, or maybe rum cake? Whatever it is, I want to know! If you want, you can even leave a link to your favorite cake recipe in your comment below.

Extra Entries: The following five opportunities below will earn one extra entry into the giveaway for each. You must leave separate comments for each one to ensure that they are counted as separate entries:

Subscribe to Sweet Pea’s Kitchen by email. (on the right sidebar at the top of the page) Come back and let me know you have subscribed in an additional comment. Already a subscriber? Just say so!

Tweet the following about the giveaway: “RT @SPkitchen Cookbook Giveaway! Enter to win a copy of World Of Cake: http://wp.me/pZ6s9-YZ”. Come back and let me know you’ve Tweeted in an additional comment.

Deadline:Friday, March 11, 2011 at 11:59pm ESTGiveaway Closed!

Winner: The winner will be selected at random by Sweet Pea’s Kitchen using Random.org. All entries received after the deadline will not be considered. Entries that do not follow the entry requirements will not be considered. Winner will be notified via email and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the email. If the winner does not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected.

Directions:

In a two cup measuring cup, dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of warm water. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and the milk. Let sit for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and lemon zest; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until coarse. Add the yeast mixture and mix until combined. Switch to the dough hook and knead at medium-low speed for 5-8 minutes or until dough is smooth and comes away from the sides of the bowl. Add flour sparingly if the dough sticks to the side of the bowl.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

After the rise, punch down the dough and turn it onto a floured work surface; let dough rest 10 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place the baby in the middle of the dough and roll up the long side of the dough, forming a long cylinder, and pinch the edges to seal and smooth the dough to hide the seam.
Transfer the ring to the prepared baking sheet with the seam facing down and cover with plastic wrap. Place a well-greased coffee can or shortening can in the center of the ring to maintain shape during baking. Let sit for 45 minutes, or until the dough doubles in volume.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Beat the egg white with the milk. When the dough is risen, brush it with the egg white mixture. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden, or a thermometer reads 200 to 210ºF. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make the icing, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest.
Pour or pipe lemon icing over the cake. Sprinkle immediately with colored sugars. Let the topping set before serving.

Oh my gosh! Cool! My friends and I made one of these today and it was OBSCENE! It took forever but man oh man was it cool! Pics to come.
I’m quite curious to know in what country/continent getting a naked baby in a piece of cake became ‘good luck’.